Welfare

INTRODUCTION: Financial toxicity is highly prevalent in patients after an orthopaedic injury. However, little is known regarding the conditions that promote and protect against this financial distress. Our objective was to understand the factors that cause and protect against financial toxicity after a lower extremity fracture. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 20 patients 3 months after surgical treatment of a lower extremity fracture...

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the major components of long-chain per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), known for their chemical stability and environmental persistence. Even if PFOA and PFOS have been phased out or are limited in use, they still represent a concern for human and environmental health. Several studies have been performed to highlight the toxicological behavior of these chemicals and their mode of action (MoA). Data suggested the causal association between PFOA or PFOS exposure and carcinogenicity in humans, but the outcomes of epidemiological studies showed some inconsistency...

BACKGROUND: Patient-accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs) are assumed to enhance the quality of care, expressed in terms of safety, effectiveness, timeliness, person centeredness, efficiency, and equity. However, research on the impact of PAEHRs on the perceived quality of care among parents, children, and adolescents is largely lacking. In the Netherlands, a PAEHR (Iuvenelis) was developed for preventive child health care and youth care. Parents and adolescents had access to its full content, could manage appointments, ask questions, and comment on written reports...

Drug safety communications (DSCs) are essential tools for communicating important postmarket serious drug safety information to healthcare professionals and patients. Previous studies characterized DSCs issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA); however, knowledge about the activities of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA)/the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) is limited. This study characterized DSCs by the PMDA/MHLW in comparison with previously reported DSCs by the FDA and the EMA...

BACKGROUND: Research shows that front-line nurses' workload and stress levels increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, however, there is little research of these factors in relation to nurse managers. Previous research undertaken in Austria found that some nurse managers working in nursing homes undertook clinical as well as managerial functions during the pandemic, a double burden that could have increased their stress levels and have had adverse psychological, physical and social consequences...

The journey of clinical research in India spans centuries, marked by significant milestones and advancements in scientific, ethical, and regulatory domains. From early trials conducted by pioneers like James Lind to modern standards shaped by landmark events such as the Nuremberg Code and the adoption of Good Clinical Practice guidelines, India's progression reflects a commitment to ethical conduct and patient welfare. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has played a pivotal role in this evolution, establishing national research centers and ethical committees to oversee biomedical research...

Almost all countries and fertility clinics impose age limits on women who want to become pregnant through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Age limits for aspiring fathers, however, are much less common and remain a topic of debate. This article departs from the principle of reproductive autonomy and a conditional positive right to receive ART, and asks whether there are convincing arguments to also impose age limits on aspiring fathers. After considering three consequentialist approaches to justifying age limits for aspiring fathers, we take in a concrete normative stance by concluding that those are not strong enough to justify such cut-offs...

Rectal temperature is widely used as an indicator of animal health. However, rectal temperature is conventionally measured by an invasive method, which may reduce animal welfare. So, this study aimed to determine the relationships between the deep-body (core) temperature and body surface temperatures in goats and develop a linear regression equation to establish the core temperature based on body surface temperatures. Body surface temperatures (head, eye, muzzle, horn, back, scrotum and groin) of goats were measured by infrared thermography (IRT)...

Chinchillas are a relatively novel research model compared with other rodent species. They require special considerations when it comes to their husbandry and daily care. Chinchillas tend to be shy animals that are well adapted to masking clinical signs of illness. These characteristics can make them a difficult species to maintain in a research setting. The authors' institution has maintained chinchillas and established standardized daily animal care procedures for them. Chinchillas are most commonly used for auditory research...

Genotyping is a common and necessary procedure performed on genetically modified animals to distinguish carriers from noncarriers of the variants of interest. Established methods involve collection of tissues such as tips of tails or notches of ears. Noninvasive methods have been described but not widely adopted for reasons including inertia to change, needs to adjust PCR protocols, and the lack of validation; noninvasive genotyping methods are a refinement on animal welfare, but questions remain regarding how they compare with invasive methods in terms of genotyping accuracy rate and reproducibility...

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are changing the medical world, and AI will likely replace many of the actions performed by medical professionals. The overall clinical ability of the AI has been evaluated by its ability to answer a text-based national medical examination. This study uniquely assesses the performance of Open AI's ChatGPT against all Japanese National Medical Licensing Examination (NMLE), including images, illustrations, and pictures. METHODS: We obtained the questions of the past six years of the NMLE (112th to 117th) from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website...

IMPORTANCE: The health outcomes of increased poverty and inequalities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been substantially amplified as a consequence of converging multiple crises. Brazil has some of the world's largest conditional cash transfer (Programa Bolsa Família [PBF]), social pension (Beneficio de Prestacão Continuada [BPC]), and primary health care (Estratégia de Saúde da Família [ESF]) programs that could act as mitigating interventions during the current polycrisis era of increasing poverty, slow or contracting economic growth, and conflicts...

In theory, it can be strategically advantageous for competitors to make themselves unpredictable to their opponents, for example, by variably mixing hostility and friendliness. Empirically, it remains open whether and how competitors make themselves unpredictable, why they do so, and how this conditions conflict dynamics and outcomes. We examine these questions in interactive attacker-defender contests, in which attackers invest to capture resources held and defended by their opponent. Study 1, a reanalysis of nine (un)published experiments (total N = 650), reveals significant cross-trial variability especially in proactive attacks and less in reactive defense...

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) assessment tools are becoming increasingly important for the assessment of diseases in veterinary medicine. OBJECTIVES: To develop a tool to assess the HRQoL of hyperthyroid cats and their owners. ANIMALS: Cats with hyperthyroidism (n = 229) and without hyperthyroidism (n = 322). METHODS: Cross-sectional study design. A preliminary list of 28 questions relating to the HRQoL of hyperthyroid cats and the influence their cat's disease might have on owners was created...

BACKGROUND: The Philippines is the global maritime industry's single biggest source of seafarers. This article examines how the Philippines protects the welfare of its seafarers working on board ocean-going vessels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We employed a multi-method approach to better understand the POEA-SEC as a regulatory instrument. First, we analysed Philippine legislation and regulations that are shaping the employment, welfare, and working conditions of Filipino seafarers...

Providing anesthesia and analgesia for mouse subjects is a common and critical practice in the laboratory setting. This practice is necessary for performing invasive procedures, achieving prolonged immobility for sensitive imaging modalities (magnetic resonance imaging, for instance), and providing intra- and post-procedural pain relief. In addition to facilitating the procedures performed by the investigator, the provision of anesthesia and analgesia is crucial for the preservation of animal welfare and for humane treatment of animals used in research...

Cold and heat stress present welfare challenges for dairy calves. The consequences of thermal stress on biological functioning have been well documented, and many housing and management strategies have been evaluated to mitigate those detrimental impacts. In cold weather, mitigation strategies have largely focused on nutritional interventions or limiting heat loss with resources such as bedding or jackets. In hot weather, heat abatement strategies such as supplemental shade, increased environmental air exchange through passive ventilation, and forced air movement through mechanical ventilation have been evaluated...

The objectives of this symposium review are to summarize relevant research and key welfare issues relative to calf transportation and identify strategies to mitigate welfare challenges. An important animal welfare concern across the US dairy industry is the transportation of preweaning calves from the source dairy to a calf-raising facility (e.g., calf ranches, heifer raising facilities, veal operations), auction, livestock market, or directly to slaughter. Millions of calves are transported annually in the United States and calf transport has garnered increased attention...

Social contact in early life has broad benefits for behavioral development and welfare of the developing dairy calf. The most accessible approach to providing social contact for commercially raised dairy calves is rearing calves in same-age groups, a practice that is growing in popularity. This symposium review highlights developing areas of research relevant for widespread implementation of social housing on commercial farms. I discuss the onset of social behavior in young calves, development of social preferences, implications of calf management and housing for expression of social behavior, individual differences in social behavior, and implications of environmental complexity within the context of social housing...

As the analysis of blood metabolites has become more readily accessible thanks to the use of point-of-care analyzers, it is now possible to evaluate stress level of wild animals directly in the field. Lactate is receiving much attention as a good stress level proxy in individuals subjected to capture, manual restraint, and data sampling in the wild, and appropriate protocols to maintain lactate values low should be preferred. In this study we compare how two different capture methodologies, hand grab vs. noose pole, affect the variation of blood lactate values in Cyclura carinata iguanas when captured for sampling...